Archive for September, 2008

How I Celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhong Qiu 中秋節)

First, a quick trip to King’s Coffee Shop on Ocean Avenue for Norman Yee‘s campaign kickoff for his re-election to the San Francisco school board.

Then it was onto Oakland for the grand opening of the Lao Iu Mien Culture Center’s Pan Wang temple. This finish of the temple marks a milestone for their community. They have talked about this building this temple since when I first met them twenty eight years ago, when many of them first arrived as refugees from Laos. The establishment of this temple means that their culture and people will survive in this country.
This is Kouichoy Saechao. He is the president of the Lao Iu Mien Cultural Association. I first met him when he was a young man….well…I was too. He travelled to Liuzhou, Guangxi, China to purchase and ship the statues back here.
This is the head priest, master Fouwang Saetern. When he doesn’t have the beret on, his hair is slicked back with a pompodor like Elvis. He looks pretty cool.
What’s an Iu Mien ocassion without food. I love the food at their events…the pork is so fresh! There weren’t any bai-wang though.
and of course, the ocassion is a time for the community and friends to get together…to share, to laugh, to be happy…and of course food.
Then it was onto APILO‘s Luau at the Google’s headquarter in Mountainview for more food…cooked by master chef Sam Choy of Hawaii. It’s a great opportunity to watch some serious Tahitian dancing and raid the refrigerator of Google.